A Colonel, a Lieutenant, and a Wedding
by jacksparrow589
Summary: …but sadly not their own. Actually, it’s Fuery’s wedding reception, at which fun is had, dancing is done, and, hopefully, a relationship develops. Strongly hinted Royai. Just to make this clear, this is postepisode 25. Rated for one little word.


Summer weddings were nice, Roy supposed.

But only if you weren't a part of them.

He wasn't even supposed to have been a groomsman, for heaven's sake! Why Breda had to go and break his leg and insist on needing a wheelchair was still something of a mystery, but Roy's policy when it concerned his direct subordinates was to flame first and ask questions later.

The flaming would have to wait. It was far too hot, and the fact that the weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding was no help. That meant that the direct light and heat from the sun was amplified by his black suit. He had been thankful that there had been a slight breeze throughout, but now, inside for the reception where the only moving air whisked around moving bodies the situation was a different one entirely.

Havoc sat next to him at a table, claiming that it was too hot even to smoke. He, like Roy, had shed his jacket, loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves, and still he was fanning himself.

As if by magic, two glasses of ice water appeared before them.

"Drink, the both of you," a woman's voice instructed. "You two looked ready to pass out. Why you didn't get drinks earlier, I'll never know." Riza sighed, rounded the table, and sat between the two.

_Figures she doesn't rag on the weather…_ Roy thought to himself. _Then again, she didn't have to wear a three-piece suit and tie._ "We had to stand the entire ceremony. We're tired."

"You've been through worse," Riza chided gently. "Although this is starting to gain on some of those times." She attempted to be discreet at peeling her dress from where sweat was sticking it to her legs. "And I promised him a dance, too," she added quietly.

Both Roy and Havoc looked up, blinking. "Wait. You promised someone you'd _dance_ with them?" Havoc asked after a moment.

Riza rolled her eyes. "Yes, Havoc. It's a wedding. Generally, people dance at weddings. I'm just rather warm right now, and being in close quarters with a bunch of other bodies is not helping things."

"But… _who_'d you promised to dance with?" pried Havoc, still looking rather astonished.

"Kain," she answered simply. When this furthered the men's gawking, she reasoned, "Well, it _is_ his wedding. I wasn't about to refuse."

Roy supposed he should not really be surprised. Riza could dance as well as the next person, but the thought of the quiet, timid little Fuery asking the woman who trained a puppy by shooting at it to dance was a little odd. Then again, with all that they'd been through together, Roy and his subordinates were one big, dysfunctional-yet-rather-happy family. Simply put, even if it shouldn't have worked, it did.

His mind drifted to other things for a while until Havoc poked him and, looking slightly disappointed, half-whined, "I was _sure_ it was you!"

"You were sure that _what_ was me?" Roy wanted to know, noticing just then that Riza had left the table and was heading out onto the dance floor with a aura of purpose.

Havoc's expression changed to flat-out incredulity. "Don't play dumb, Chief! Dancing? _With Hawkeye?_ You'd pass that up?"

The now-irate Roy snapped back, "Do I look like I'm in any condition to dance, Havoc? You have more energy than I do right now."

Shrugging, Havoc said innocently, "I've heard dancing energizes you." When Roy's only response turned out to be a noncommittal grunt, the smoker dropped his act. "You want to. She wants to. And hey, it's a wedding. Generally, people dance at weddings," he quoted, smirking.

"Smart-ass. How do _you_ know what she wants?" Roy demanded, not even bothering to give the subtle "advice" (if it could be called that) at the end a reaction.

"_Tch._ It's _obvious_. I've been around the both of you long enough to be able to read you. I'm not saying you should rush things, but you two will make a great couple when you... get… around… to it." He was almost whispering by the end, shrinking back from Roy's cool glare.

Roy leaned back in his chair, the glare becoming increasingly menacing. "Dancing with someone does not necessarily mean that you love them, Havoc. I'm sure we've all danced with someone we don't know."

Timidly, Havoc suggested, "But you dance with those you love, right?"

"Idiot," muttered Roy. "When are you going to get that it's not like that?" He took a swig of water and made the mistake of looking out on the floor in an attempt to cut the conversation off. No matter how hard he tried to compose himself, he knew Havoc would see that he wished it was him Riza was laughing with, or even at, out there! The world was so damn cruel!

He finally broke his gaze from the floor, only to see Havoc's full-fledged smirk, rather reminiscent of the one Maes would give him. "So, it's not like that, is it?"

"Shut up," Roy ordered through gritted teeth. "I'm going to go dance."

* * *

"Congratulations, Kain. You'd better go dance with Laura, though," Riza hugged the newlywed and waved him in the general direction of his new wife. She turned to head off, but ran into someone, and that someone put a hand on her waist and had their other hand in hers before she could protest. "Sir, with all due respect, what the hell are you doing?" 

Roy, still looking a little angry, shrugged and replied, "It's a wedding. Generally, people dance at weddings."

Riza obviously did not completely trust this explanation. "Havoc was bothering you, wasn't he? I swear, he reminds me of Maes sometimes, with the comments he makes…" she shook her head and placed her free hand on Roy's shoulder. "Just one, then?"

Looking in Havoc's general direction, Roy sighed. "I don't think the rest of the night would be enough for him."

They swayed, rotated, and Roy occasionally twirled Riza for the next minute, all in silence. It was not the most comfortable silence in the world, even though their movements weren't stiff, and even though they weren't trying to stay particularly far away. It was the silence in and of itself that was nerve-wracking.

Roy finally broke the silence. "Well, how many dances would you be up for?"

"Not that many. I need to rest and take off my shoes," explained Riza.

"How about after this, then?" Roy asked as a new song was struck up.

Riza affirmed by way of a nod. "Unless you'd prefer to stop now…"

"No! No! That's not what I meant!" an almost-flustered Roy assured her.

The rest of the dance was spent in that same silence as before, and even as they relaxed, neither really smiled. Even so, when the dance ended, they walked off the floor and back to the table together, noting that Havoc had deserted it in favor of pursuing a young brunette who was laughing at something he had said.

After ten minutes, neither had spoken still. Riza had removed her shoes and was massaging her feet, as Roy watched what was going on out on the floor. He sighed heavily every once and a while, but no matter how quizzical of a look Riza gave him, he said nothing. It was a little maddening, but there were very few things Roy would not open up to her about, so she had a very educated guess as to what his moping was all about.

"You don't have to stay with me, you know," she hinted finally.

Roy looked sheepish. "Am I being annoying? I can leave if you want," he offered.

Riza shook her head. "You look like you want to be out there, though."

"Ah…" Roy lowered his voice and seemed to flush a little. "But _you're_ the one I want to be out there with."

With a fairly enigmatic smile (Roy never claimed to know that much about women, anyway.), Riza stood. "You could've said so earlier."

Ruling out alcohol consumption (a sip of champagne? Not likely to do much), any sort of drug (this was _Riza Hawkeye_), and most other explanations as to Riza's behavior, Roy followed mutely, still bearing an expression of mild surprise as they began to dance. He noticed something about the crowd, however: it was thinning, and _fast_. And anyway, it was a wedding. Generally, people dance at weddings. Now, as to what those dances might mean… well, whose business was that, anyway?

They had drifted close enough that Riza's head nestled on Roy's shoulder, and his chin was resting gently atop her head. The heat was no longer bothersome. It was not as though they were doing anything inappropriate. Nobody would talk (not seriously, anyway) about this for more than a few minutes for that reason.

The dance went on and on and on… 'til the cleanup commenced and the party was over. Roy had made the decision that four hours was not long enough.

Dammit, they needed to go to weddings more often!

**End**

**A/N: Voila! My not-so-masterful masterpiece. More like something an apprentice would make. My apprenticepiece, maybe? **

**I was at a wedding recently, and some guy probably twice my age and a complete stranger to boot dragged me onto the floor for the last dance, then deserted me in the middle of it! I have to say, I wasn't the best dancer, though. He was trying to get me to do the fox trot, which I'd never done before. I picked up on it pretty well, though! pouts**

**I knew I wanted to do this, but I let it float around for a while. I wanted Riza to dance with Fuery for some reason. I thought (for the same reason Roy seems to think it's odd) that it's cute. Initially, I was going to have her dance with Havoc, too, but I didn't. Oh well. I got my Royai fix.**


End file.
